Apple Pushing ‘Great AirPlay Apps’ via iTunes

iOS 4.3 brought many great features to iPhone and iPad users, from personal hotspot, to a brand new, ultra-fast JavaScript engine.

One of the new – yet less known – feature offered by the new version of the operating system is AirPlay support for third party apps. Third-party developers can now use the AirPlay API to stream content from their apps, to any AirPlay compatible devices such as Apple TVs – a feat only reserved to Apple-branded apps thus far.

For the occasion, Apple has opened a specific AirPlay-compatible apps section in iTunes to showcase the best apps that leverage the technology. As of now, a little over ten apps are featured, including Discovery Channel HD, VEVO, Martha Stewart Makes Cookies, ESPN the Magazine for iPad, Golfplan with Paul Azinger, My Daily Clip, Authentic Yoga with Deepak Chopra, Baseball Gameplan with Jason Giambi, MLS MatchDay 2011, and last but not least, Air Video.

Note that the list is not exhaustive, and Apple will keep adding more apps to the AirPlay section as more AirPlay-compatible apps hit the App Store.

Thanks to AirPlay, users can stream music and videos throughout their entire house, wirelessly. While most Apple-branded products such as the second generation Apple TV already support AirPlay, a slew of speaker docks makers such as iHome, and more and more AV receivers and stereo systems makers such as Denon are embracing the technology as well.